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CFR left for the first training camp of the summer, leaving behind some interesting names, who aren’t part of Mandorlini’s plans for the coming season. The central midfielder Sixto Peralta tops this list, a player who gets 375.000 Euros per year and thinks that his deal will expire in June 2011. CFR’s board thinks otherwise, stating that this summer they had the option to extend the deal for one more year and refused to do it. Anyway, looking at CFR’s lack of creative players in midfield it’s possible that Mandorlini could be really happy to see the former Inter Milano player still at the club, when he returns to Romania…
On the black list and looking at least for a good destination to spend a year on loan are Rade Veljovic, Ousmane Viera, Vitinha, Dario Flores and Diego Ruiz, all good players by Liga I standards, with centre back Viera showing also some potential to develop in the near future.

My view: Well, if Spadacio wins this after the worst season since his arrival to Rapid, it means that the guy is way too good for this league, but not good enough for a better one, given the lack of offers from Europe this summer… Anyway, let’s just say that Sanmartean made a nice comeback in Liga I, but he still looks like he wouldn’t like to give too much on the pitch – he probably waits to turn 34, 35. If Lopez Caro wants to win something next season, well, he should try and make this guy give it all for FC Vaslui. I wouldn’t have included here Peralta, as he’s more of a number 8 than a number 10, while Vezan is the absolute surprise. Should I add that, in spite of this “achievement”, the guy has just been released on a free transfer by International Pitesti? Thumbs up, though, for Florin Dan, an experienced player who gave it all to save Unirea Alba Iulia, who just missed out on this Top 5.

My choices: Well, to say Radut, now, after Steaua got his signature and he made his debut among the seniors in the National Team doesn’t make me much of an observer, right? But, looking through the list of players taken into consideration, there isn’t another young&promising attacking midfielder out there. And that’s quite sad. And scary!

Note: the top five is taken from Gazeta Sporturilor, a newspaper that uses the service of Digital Soccer Project. These results are based on a series of specific criteria for each position, include only players that have collected at least 1.200 minutes on the pitch in the past season and the only subjective part of the analysis consists in the average marks received by the newspaper’s writers.

Tempted to move away this summer, Muresan agreed to a new deal with the champions that will expire in 2015! The anchorman played a key role in CFR’s first eleven since his arrival from Gloria Bistrita, showing excellent work ethic, leadership and quality on and off the pitch. Paid until now with 80.000 Euros per season, almost five times less than what Sixto Peralta was getting for playing as a rotation midfielder, Muresan probably will receive a salary in the region of 150.000 Euros (a couple of good offers from abroad paid dividends), but the official details of his new contract have not been released.

Unirea Urziceni signed the veteran full-back Petre Marin, from Steaua Bucharest, who gets a two years long deal, in spite of his age! The 36 years old leaves the red and blue outfit after six years of consistent performances and basically gives the green light for Pablo Brandan‘s move away from Urziceni. Marin will be followed to Urziceni by his former colleague, Adrian Neaga, who terminated his contract with Neftci Baku and was also recommended to Ronny Levy by Mihai Stoica.

Astra Ploiesti made the first two signings of the summer, showing that Steaua’s former manager, Mihai Stoichita, is really close to take over from Marin Barbu. Pierre Ebede, a 30 years old keeper from Cameroon, has been transferred from AEL Limassol, while the Bulgarian Atanas Bornosuzov comes from Litex Lovech to strengthen a team that will aim to finish in the top half of the standings next season. According to several press reports, the two should be followed in the next few days by the likes of Zhivko Zhelev (released by Steaua this summer), Mihaita Plesan (out of favor at Steaua, available for 100.000 Euros) or Stelios Parpas (available for 100.000 Euros)

A rumor for a few months now, a certainty starting today: Sixto Peralta leaves CFR Cluj mainly because of his huge salary for Liga I (375.000 Euros/season), but for a small one, if we think of the clubs and players the Romanian champions will meet next season, in the Champions League!

The club asked Peralta if he’d agree to a mutual termination of the current deal and the Argentinian agreed to move on, after two years spent in Romania. A classy player, a complete box-to-box midfielder, gifted with technique and vision above the average, someone who should have never missed CFR’s first eleven when fit, Peralta was too often this season considered just a rotation player, in my opinion, but I have to admit that, even though I admire his skills, he rarely made the kind of impact on a game everyone expected from him.

Another player offloaded by CFR right after completing the double is the Brazilian centre forward Nei, who will return to Al-Shabab, in spite of a couple of decisive performances and goals, in the final matches of the season. Nei collected 20 appearances in the league and scored 5 goals in the process.

On Wednesday, Dinamo met CFR Cluj at home, on a pitch that favored the guests. For the first time since his arrival, Mandorlini sent on the pitch only one natural striker, Yssouf Kone, in a 4-1-4-1 formula that looked solid, but could have done more damage, with the right players. Nicolae Dica was a disgrace (central right midfielder), slow and always late both in attack and defense, while the Italian Bottone (right midfielder) was a joke. Piccolo did a better job in defense, but if this is what Italian players can offer to Romanian football, we’re definitely better off without them! Solid performance from Sixto Peralta – I cannot imagine how on earth he can be left on the bench, when fit! – who dictated the play in the centre of the park, well protected by Gabriel Muresan, deployed as anchorman, and another good display from the Brazilian left back Leonardo Veloso, who was on trial with Dinamo, but went on to sign for CFR. The game ended 1-1, Kone equalizing after Lucian Goian’s header, but it was a tight affair until the end, with both teams pushing for a win. The Red Dogs, though, were handicapped by the presence on the pitch of two strikers completely out of shape, Claudiu Niculescu and Florin Bratu, and suffered two more blows, defenders Ze Diabate and Lucian Goian badly injured during the first half.

Strange approach from Marius Lacatus, who decided to rest several first team players in the first leg of the semifinal against FC Brasov! FC Brasov – FC Vaslui ended 1-0, but I wonder why “The Beast” was thinking of the Monday match vs. Timisoara, when he was just two steps away from the final, three steps away from a trophy and guaranteed place in Europe next season! Anyway, the hosts deserved their win, finally looking like the team from last year, organized and hard working. Solid performance from Savic, who slowly won his place in the first eleven, offering an excellent assist from the left, converted by the 36 years old captain, Robert Ilyes. For Vaslui, the Brazilian Gladstone confirmed that he’s got some class, but Porumboiu’s collection of talented individuals is still far from working as an unit, with the brothers Dinu and (especially) Lucian Sanmartean looking poor, the Spaniard Delgado inconsistent, relying on the creativity and constant threat represented by Wesley…

Radu Baicu

• 10 years of continuous work in scouting, for top clubs and companies;
• Worked for clubs like Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Hannover 96, monitorring the Romanian market;
• Worked for Birmingham based company 'The Scouting Network' (www.tsn.co.uk) as a football scout;
• Worked for Zurich based company Boutique Football as a scouting network coordinator;
• International scout for Young Boys Bern for 2 years, covering Eastern European football.
• Currently working as an international scout for a top French club, covering Eastern European football.